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Arkansas Genealogical Society

Volume 11, No. 6, June, 2016 Johnny Mann, editor George Mitchell, list manager

AGS Ezine

JOIN US!

If you are not a member,

this is your official

invitation to join AGS.

AGS Membership Application

If you are a member,

look at the back of your

Arkansas Family Historian.

Your membership expires

on the date printed under

your name.

It may be time to renew

your AGS membership dues!

A Call For Vendors

The AGS Fall Seminar is scheduled for October 14 and 15 at the

Benton Conference Center in Benton, Arkansas. Many hours have been

invested by several of the Board Members to make this event happen.

For those readers who are AGS members, this is your Conference. The

event is put on FOR you and BY you.

One of the benefits to the conference attendees is an oppor-

tunity to become aware of and to inspect the various genealogical re-

sources that are available. Our vendors are a vital part of the confer-

ence offering.

The AGS is making a call for vendors to display and sell. This is also a call for

our Ezine readers to help. Contact those vendors that you know and encourage them

to be one of the conference vendors.

We are also calling for our readers to support the vendor with one or more pur-

chases. Our vendors incur significant expense to be there. There are four months left

to set enough funds aside to buy from our vendors. Please start now. You could accu-

mulate about $80 by diverting five dollars a week into a conference fund. What do

you spend $5 each week on, that you would be willing to give up for the summer?

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Inside this issue

Coming Events 3-6

Heritage Seekers New Website 7

Virtual Institute of Gen. Research 8

US Marriages on Findmypast 9-10

Forever’s Genealogy Services 11

NGS 2018 Family History Conference 12

Butler Center Genealogy Workshop 13-15

Research at the Butler Center 16-17

Administrative Stuff 18

The Edmond Historical Society Research Library and Genealog-

ical Center of Edmond, Oklahoma has reopened at the Edmond His-

torical Society and Museum. From the article in The Oklahoman, it

sounds like a place to consider for Oklahoma research. You may read

the complete article at http://newsok.com/article/5500078. Thanks

to Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter for making us aware of

this.

The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is still available and

searchable on several websites. Eastman’s Online Genealogy News-

letter has a very informative article for your education. He lists sev-

eral of the places the SSDI can be accessed.

On May 4th, RootsMagic announced on their blog that Root-

Magic WebHints now support Findmypast. In March they announced

Direct Family Tree Maker Import.

Do you need to convert one file type to another? Eastman’s

Online Genealogy Newsletter has an article about Cloudconvert, a

web based service, that you should read.

Here is a free extension for the Chrome web browser that will

automatically create website citations for you. Read the complete

article on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter. They also have a

website, www.citethisforme.com, which offers a free account that

you can upgrade if you require the added features.

Tidbits —

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Coming Events

June 3-5, 2016

47th Annual Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree 2016 at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Air-

port Hotel, Burbank, CA. See http://www.genealogyjamboree.com/ for the details.

June 9-11, 2016

The 2016 Genealogy Jamboree in Cumberland Gap, TN. Please go to http://www.genealogyjamboree.us/ for

all the details.

June 11, 2016

NEW DATE for the Ark-La-Tex Genealogical Association’s spring seminar with Lisa Louise Cooke in Shreveport,

LA. The original date, March 12, 2016 was canceled due to the flooding. There may still be room, so go to

their website for the details.

June 12—17, 2016

The Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University Library, week-long event will be in Bir-

mingham, AL. Registration is now open. Click here to go to their website.

June 13, 2016

The Butler Center offers a beginner's genealogy class the second Monday of every month, taught by Rhonda

Stewart, the Butler Center's local history and genealogy expert. Participants will learn how to use online data-

bases and city directories, as well as how to archive family documents. Jump-start your genealogy research

with this fun and creative way to learn about the past.

For more information, contact the Butler Center at 501-320-5700.

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Coming Events continued

June 17-18, 2016

The 16th Annual Chapman Family Association Convention will be at the Overland Park Marriott this year. You

may visit http://www.chapmanfamilies.org/index.html for more information.

June 25, 2016

A Beginning Genealogy Class is scheduled to be at the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library from 10:00 to

3:00. Contact Nancy Matthews (870-219-0535 or nlmatthews@suddenlink.net) for more information.

June 27, 2016

Heritage Seekers meets 6:30 at the Second Presbyterian Church at 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. The

program is Arkansas’ Conway Family by Carolynn Conway-Coleman.

July 16, 2016

Craighead County Genealogical Society’s Summer Lock In from 5:00 p.m. to midnight at the Jonesboro Public

Library, 315 W. Oak Ave., Jonesboro, AR. Contact email is gscca@suddenlink.net or 870-219-0535.

July 23, 2016

The Butler Center’s 2016 Genealogy Workshop, 10:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m. at CALS Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River

Market Avenue, Little Rock. The program is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Please

check http://www.butlercenter.org/workshop/ for all the details. Also see page 13 and following.

August 5-6, 2016

The Irish Genealogical Society International (IGSI) and The Irish Ancestral Research Association (TIARA) are

pleased to announce that the second Celtic Connections Conference will be held in Minneapolis, MN at the Dou-

ble Tree. There will be 20+ lectures and presentations by well-known experts. If you might be interested, visit

http://www.celtic-connections.org/ccc_speakers.html.

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August 31— September 3, 2016

Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) will be held in Springfield, IL. See www.fgs.org for the details. Ho-

tel Reservations are now open. You can go to https://www.fgsconference.org/ for the details and links to

make your reservation. [One hotel is already sold out!]

September 17, 2016

The Village Genealogy Society & Akansa Chapter, NSDAR are having a 2016 Fall Family History Workshop featur-

ing Cari Taplin. You can learn more at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arhsvgs/

September 23-24, 2016

2016 STANDRIDGE NATIONAL FAMILY REUNION

Friday-Saturday, Sept. 23-24, 2016, La Quinta Inn, Bryant, AR. For additional information contact Russell P.

Baker, 6525 Magnolia Dr., Mabelvale, AR 72103, gobgob3@mindspring.com

September 18—25, 2016

The 3rd Annual Genealogy Conference and Cruise, hosted by Heritage Books, Inc. will depart from Galveston,

Texas. Visit HeritageBooks.com.

September 30—October 1, 2016

The Pierre Chastain Family Association will hold their annual reunion at Hiawassee, GA. See page 18 of the May

Ezine for all the details.

October 14-15, 2016

AGS Fall Seminar with Mark Lowe will be at the Benton Convention Center again. The details will be on the

AGS website as soon as they are available.

Coming Events continued

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November 5, 2016

Tennessee Genealogical Society Seminar in Germantown, TN. The speaker will be Thomas MaEntee.

May 10-13, 2017

The National Genealogical Society’s 2017 Family History Conference will be held at the Raleigh Convention Cen-

ter in Raleigh, NC. Conference Registration begins December 1, 2016. Hotels will begin accepting reserva-

tions for the conference on June 15, 2016.

July 28 and 29, 2017

2017 International Germanic Genealogy Conference will be held in Minneapolis, MN on July 28 and July 29,

2017, hosted by the Germanic Genealogy Society. Click here for the International Germanic Genealogy Confer-

ence flyer.

May 2-5, 2018

The NGS 2018 Family History Conference will be in Grand Rapids, MI. See page 12 for the announcement from

the NGS Monthly of May.

Coming Events continued

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The following announcement from Mary Evans of the Heritage Seekers Genealogy Club.

Hey Heritage Seekers! A proper introduction is in order for our new website designer. Carolyn Shultz has been a member of HS for quite a while. She is an expert with websites – as you can well see. The new web-site is beautiful! My inbox has exploded with compliments for Caroline. Caroline is also a professional genealogist. One of the things we are want-ing to add to our website is a list of local researchers. We are so glad & thankful to have her! So if you haven’t seen it yet- what are you waiting for? Check it out! http://heritageseekersar.weebly.com/.

I must say, Caroline has done an outstanding job with their new web-

site. Be sure and visit the website. Her email address is on the “home” page.

Heritage Seekers New Website

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There are so many opportunities to attend conferences and seminars, in our area, and around the nation. They provide a place to talk with other genealogy enthusiasts and way to further our genealogy education and skills. If you are able to go to one of these, you should take full advantage by asking questions, talking with the other genealogists, and make relationships.

What if you cannot attend due to financial constraints, time constraints, or physical reasons? You do have oth-er alternatives. Some alternatives are “free” and others do charge a fee. I learned about the Virtual Institute of Ge-nealogical Research, which does charge a fee, from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter. The cost for these courses are typically $69 for six hours of instruction. The following is taken from their website.

What is the Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research?

The Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research is an educational venue that offers a wide variety of Institute-quality courses in a virtual format. The virtual format allows students to advance their genealogical skills in a cost-effective manner, without the costs of travel and lodging associated with many other educational oppor-tunities.

Does the Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research have a physical location?

No. All classes are offered virtually using GoToWebinar.

What equipment do I need to use GoToWebinar?

All you need to use GoToWebinar are the following:

Windows or Mac computer

Internet connection (broadband is best)

Microphone and speakers (built-in or USB headset)

Most computers have built-in microphones and speakers, but you will get much better audio quality if you use a headset. You can also call in on your landline or mobile device.

This is not an endorsement, just here for your information. You be the judge.

The Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research

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The following is republished from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter May 4, 2016

Another major announcement has been made at the National Genealogical Company’s annual conference in Fort Lauderdale: Findmypast is releasing a huge batch of US marriage records. The following was written by Findmypast:

New records contain over 30 million names

Includes significant additions from Indiana, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Maine

Includes 1 million names published online for the first time and only found on Findmypast

Leading family history website, Findmypast , announced today at the 2016 conference of the National Genea-logical Society the release of over 10 million new marriage records in the second installment of their United States Marriages collection.

Released in partnership with FamilySearch International, the records contain more than 30 million names, nearly 1 million of which have never before been published online and can only be found at Findmypast.

The release marks the second stage of an ambitious project that will see Findmypast digitize and publish the single largest online archive of U.S. marriages in history. Covering 360 years of marriages from 1650-2010, when complete this landmark collection will contain at least 100 million records and more than 450 million names from 2,800 counties across America.

United States Marriages on Findmypast

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While the United States Marriage collection includes marriages from nearly every state, this second install-ment includes significant additions from Indiana, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Maine.

The records include marriage date, bride and groom names, birthplace, birth date, age, and residence as well as father’s and mother’s names. Customers with family trees on Findmypast will benefit from leads connect-ing relatives on their trees with the marriage records, thus generating a whole new source of research.

Commenting, Ben Bennett, Executive Vice-President North America and International for Findmypast said:

“We are very proud to be part of the 2016 conference of the National Genealogical Society. NGS plays a leadership role in our industry providing world class education and standards enabling many more people to learn more about their past. Having access to Findmypast as part of their membership ensures that NGS members have one of the best tools available to find their ancestors.”

United States Marriages on Findmypast continued

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There seems to be no end to the assortment of new service available to the genealogy audience. The pro-cess of researching for the Ezine exposes me to many of these services. As you well know, there are very few ser-vices, of any value, that are free. Another observation is that you cannot use all of them. It is best to sample and restrict yourself to a few that provide adequate value to you and that fit the way you work. Forever, Inc. is a service that you should be aware of. I am taking the easy way out and republishing part of Eastman’s Online Ge-nealogy Newsletter’s article of February 4, 2016.

Forever, Inc. offers the world’s first and only guaranteed permanent online media storage and sharing ser-vice, which is backed by the patent-pending Forever Guarantee. Forever was founded and is led by Glen Meakem, previous Founder and CEO of the highly successful business-to-business e-commerce company, FreeMarkets, Inc. Forever provides a permanent, secure, trustworthy place in the internet cloud – a per-manent digital home with a complete set of memory keeping services – where moms and families can col-lect, curate, celebrate and permanently save their precious personal and family memories. The company offers highly secure, triple backed up cloud storage, with encryption of critical locator data. It also offers award winning mobile apps for iOS and Android that automatically back up to member accounts at www.forever.com, as well as web and desktop apps so customers can upload, access, edit, organize, and protect their content from virtually any device. Forever guarantees customers who buy “permanent shara-ble storage” that their photos and memories will be saved for their lifetimes plus 100 years with the goal of many generations beyond. The company can make this guarantee because a large portion of the money customers pay for “permanent storage” is deposited into the Forever Guarantee Fund, a restricted fund that acts like a permanent endowment or reserve, with earnings paying for storage, bandwidth, and mi-gration to new file formats for generations into the future.

The company also offers Forever Artisan, the leading digital desktop scrapbooking software, and Forever Historian — photo organization and management software, as well as Forever digital art, desktop uploader (Forever Valet), digital photo project design applications (such as Forever Projects), printing, photo scan-ning and media conversion services.

Forever, Inc.’s Genealogy Services

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The National Genealogical Society announced their 2018 Family History Conference in the NGS Monthly.

The National Genealogical Society 2018 Family History Conference will be held at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from May 2—5, 2018. NGS selected Grand Rapids for its historical significance as a city centrally located between the Great Lakes. In the nineteenth century, the Great Lakes were major, stra-tegic waterways that helped Americans and immigrants settle and develop areas of the nation. Today, Grand Rapids is a popular vacation destination with miles of bike and walking trails, and many nearby lo-cations for water sports or golf. Bring your spouse, partner, or friends and spend time enjoying all that beautiful western Michigan has to offer, plus take the opportunity to attend the premier family history conference and learn more about genealogy. Details about the NGS 2018 Family History Conference will be available in the fall of 2017. The four-day conference will include more than 175 lectures and workshops delivered by nationally recognized ex-perts. Registration for the conference will begin 1 December 2017. Whether you are an experienced gene-alogist or just beginning your family history, save the dates 2‒5 May 2018 because you won’t want to miss this exciting conference—the first national genealogical conference held in Michigan. NGS is pleased to have the local support of the Western Michigan Genealogical Society, which was founded in 1954 and is the second oldest genealogical society in Michigan.

NGS 2018 Family History Conference

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The Butler Center presents: 2016 Genealogy Workshop

Saturday, July 23, 2016 Time: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Location: CALS Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue

Registration is not available for this event. The program is free and open to the public.

Genealogy Workshop Agenda

9:00 a.m. Ron Robinson Theater doors open; complimentary breakfast items available

10:00 Genealogy Workshop begins with Rhonda Stewart's introduction of this year's speaker, Ms. Ketina Taylor

10:15 Genealogy 101 at the National Archives: This session will be an overview of records available from the National Archives. Ms. Taylor will focus on the types of records available both online and in the National Ar-chive's research rooms.

11:00 Break (15 minutes)

11:15 Military Records at the National Archives: This session will focus on the wide variety of military rec-ords available for research. Ms. Taylor will focus on how to locate records from the Revolutionary War to the mod-ern day.

The Butler Center Genealogy Workshop

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12:00 p.m. Lunch (1 hour)

1:00 Native American Records: This session will focus on Native American documents found in the Bureau of Indian Affairs records. Ms. Taylor will look at what is available online, other repositories, and what is available in the National Archive's research rooms.

1:45 Break (15 minutes)

2:00 Preserving Your Memories: This session will focus on preserving family documents and photographs. Topics will include proper handling and storage.

2:45 Q&A with Ms. Taylor; program is concluded by Rhonda Stewart

About Ketina Taylor

Ketina Taylor grew up in Eastern Tennessee. She graduated with a Master's degree in history from East Tennessee, having written a thesis entitled, "Sisters in Bondage: Female Slaves in the Border States from 1830-1865".

In July of 2000, Ms. Taylor began her career at the National Archives in the Still Picture Branch. In 2005, she ac-cepted a position as an archivist working with State Department records. In 2007, Ms. Taylor accepted a position as an archivist at the George W. Bush Library. Part of the training for this position included an 18-month detail to the Office of Appointments and Scheduling at the White House.

In 2012, Ketina was transferred to the National Archives at Fort Worth. In Fort Worth, Ms. Taylor continues to en-gage the public by assisting researchers through a variety of programs. Currently, Ms. Taylor leads a project to digitize and index 19th century slave manifests. She also has lead a number of workshops on genealogical topics including how to help a beginning researcher and how to preserve family documents.

The Butler Center Genealogy Workshop continued

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Parking Information

Parking is available in the Main Library lot, on a first-come, first-served basis (bear in mind, patrons of the Main Library, the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Galleries, and River Market Books & Gifts, also use this lot). The lot is located at 100 Rock St., immediately to the south of the Arkansas Studies Institute building and the CALS Ron Robinson Theater. Workshop attendees will receive a "1/2 off" stamp on their parking ticket, if they park in this lot.

Paid parking is also available on the streets immediately adjacent to the Main Library campus and in the River Market Parking deck on the corner of River Market Avenue and E. 2nd St.

Limited free parking is available in a lot on the south side of E. 2nd St., between River Market Avenue and Sher-man St.

The Butler Center Genealogy Workshop continued

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The following can be found on the Butler Center Website.

The Butler Center offers several resources to facilitate researchers of all levels. CD-ROMs and other subscription-based databases are available for use when visiting the Butler Center. For more information regarding available services, please call the Butler Center at (501) 320-5700 or email the Butler Center at arkinfo@cals.org.

CALS Online Catalog — Information about genealogy and Arkansas history resources can be found by searching the CALS catalog.

Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture — The Encyclopedia of Arkansas is a great starting point for Arkan-sas-related research.

Digital Collections — The Digital Collections are a growing resource of research material from the Butler Cen-ter holdings and newly recorded material.

Fold3 (formerly Footnote.com) — A collection of over 60 million pages of historical documents and personal histories, including millions of records available from the National Archives and other institutions. Please note: certain features of Fold3 require the use of an Adobe Flash plugin unavailable on some mobile and tablet browsers.

Heritage Quest Online — Available from home with a CALS library card, HeritageQuest includes searchable im-ages of U.S. Federal Census records, digitized family and local history books, an index to genealogical and lo-cal history periodicals, and other genealogy resources.

Census on Microfilm — Review the U.S. Census microfilm holdings available in the Arkansas Studies Institute research room.

Marriage Records — Review the Arkansas county marriage licenses on microfilm available in the Arkansas Stud-ies Institute research room.

Military Records — Review the military service records on microfilm available in the Arkansas Studies Institute research room.

Research at the Butler Center

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Historical City Directories — Review the Arkansas city directories on microfilm available in the Arkansas Studies Institute research room.

Freedmen's Bureau Records — Search a great source of African American genealogy in Arkansas on microfilm available in the Arkansas Studies Institute research room.

Social Security Death Index — The Social Security Administration Death Master File contains information on mil-lions of deceased individuals with United States social security numbers whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration.

Land Records — Trace family histories through land ownership. Over 4.2 million land patent records from across the United States are now online, and 3 million have been imaged for the 30 public land states.

Digital Sanborn Maps — The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for the state of Arkansas. Covers the years 1867-1970; not all years are available for all locations. (Please call 918-3000 for login and password.)

Family History Library Catalog — Order microfilm from the world's largest repository of genealogical records to be sent to and viewed at the Butler Center, a FamilySearch affiliate library.

Research at the Butler Center continued

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Administrative Stuff

Contributions: If you have news for the Ezine, send it! doug44mann@gmail.com —Thanks!

AGS: To learn more about Arkansas Genealogical Society, visit our website at http://www.agsgenealogy.org

Subscribe: If you have friends and relatives who would like to receive this ezine, direct them to the ezine sign-up link on our website. Membership is not required to receive the AGS Ezine, but we heartily encourage you to join our wonderful organization! Membership details are on our website.

Comments: If you have suggestions or comments about our ezine, contact ezine@agsgenealogy.org

Un-subscribe: To remove yourself from the AGS Ezine list, click here.

Credit: Items in this ezine are copyrighted by the editors or the author of the piece. If you

want to reprint any of the items in this ezine, please give us credit, citing Arkansas

Genealogical Society Ezine, (the date), edited by Johnny Mann.